EU and India target the trade agreement this year

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India and the EU have agreed to put pressure on a trade agreement this year, said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, renewing efforts to consolidate the bonds in the shadow of the pricing threats of US President Donald Trump.

The head of the committee directs a delegation of senior officials in New Delhi this week aimed at strengthening block relations with India.

She added that the EU “explored a future security and defense partnership with India” in the sense of pacts with Japan and South Korea, which would cover areas, including terrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity and attacks against critical infrastructure.

While years of commercial negotiations between the EU and India have failed to produce an agreement, Trump’s return to the American presidency prompted Brussels to conclude trade agreements.

On Friday, in a speech, Von Der Leyen said that an EU-Indian pact would be “the biggest matter of the genre all over the world” and that talks have judged quickly.

“I am very well aware that it will not be easy, but I also know that timing and determination count and that this partnership counts at the right time,” she said.

“This is why we agreed with the Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to push it to do this during this year, and you can count on my full commitment to make sure that we can deliver.”

Since November, the block has signed a long-awaited agreement with the South American Mercosur block, has updated one with Mexico and has reopened the moribund negotiations with Malaysia.

Trump attacked India, which has some of the highest import rights of any great economy, as a “tariff king” and has announced its intention to impose prices of 25% on all EU imports.

Von der Leyen said the potential of an India-UE trade agreement was “immense”.

“Europe is already the largest trading partner in India,” she told journalists. “Last year, we exchanged for 120 billion euros in goods and in the past two decades, our business has tripled.”

“More than ever, the geopolitical context requires decisive action,” she added.

India and the EU began trade negotiations in 2007, but the effort founded in 2013. The talks were dormant for almost a decade before restarting in 2022, but large differences remained on issues, including access to the Indian market for European cars and minds.

India has also accused Brussels of exceeding in fields such as environmental practices and labor rights.

Tanmaya LAL, a senior official of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said on Friday at a press conference that leaders on both sides had decided that the trade agreement should be “finalized in the year”.

“There is now a clear direction, which is always useful when the negotiators meet,” he said.

The Modi government was a difficult commercial negotiator, in particular with the United Kingdom and the European Free Trade Association, the block whose members include Switzerland, with which it signed an agreement last year.

“The Commission will take a good deal to ensure that we have an ambitious and commercial free trade agreement that covers prices and non-pricing obstacles,” said a senior EU this week. “Of course, we are also ready to respond to the requests of India.”

During a visit from Modi to Washington this month, India and the United States agreed to negotiate the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement “mutually beneficial and mutually beneficial”.

This came after Trump criticized India’s “unfair and very strong prices” and threatened to take reciprocal measures if New Delhi did not lower theirs.

This week, India and the United Kingdom also relaunched long-standing discussions on a trade agreement, which began in 2022 but which was suspended last year when the two countries held the legislative elections.